The Legacy of Demetrius
by B the Blue
Summary: Lucca is imprisoned for treason. A mystery from the past has come to haunt the present of 1004 A.D.
1. Verse I: Sophismata

**Verse I: Sophismata**

_Guardia Castle, 100__4 __A__.__D__._

Lucca tasted blood. The distinct copper flavor was the only thing her mind registered. In fact, her other senses weren't working at all. Her mind floated in a bog of black silence. The numbing darkness threatened to swallow her entirely, but Lucca was not one to simply give up. Instinctively she clung onto the copper taste as if it were a life line. Like an overboard sailor being pulled back onto a ship her senses slowly returned.

The pain was the first to come back. Her head throbbed as though she had been hit with a club, and her mouth stung with the pain of whatever had caused the blood in her mouth. Boots on stone. That was the sound she heard. While starting out faintly the volume increased with every boot fall. The confusing thing was that she was moving in cadence with the footsteps, but she couldn't be walking herself. With what seemed like a monumental effort she forced her eyes to open. The bright glare of sunlight made the task harder than it already was. By the lights intensity it was obvious that she was outside.

Everything was blurry. Lucca waited for her vision to focus, but the blur remained. She couldn't reach up to check, because her arms were apparently restrained. Instead she tried wiggling her nose. As she suspected she couldn't feel the weight of her thick glasses. That explained the blurriness. She turned her head to the left, then to the right. A soldier stood to each of her sides. Holding her up by her arms and carrying her forward. That explained the arm restraints, and the movement.

Another soldier walked several paces in front of them. In his armor he looked nothing more than a gray splotch in the sea of blur. Her mind felt nearly as fuzzy as her vision. Why did soldiers have her? She had come to the castle to see Marle and...one of the soldiers had punched her in the face. It didn't make any sense, why would Guardia soldiers attack her? And where were they taking her? She scanned her surroundings again, trying to make the best of her limited eyesight. They were on a large long gray smear, heading toward a very tall pillar of gray fuzz. A breeze brushed across her face, soothing her stinging mouth. It was windy. Windier than normal. Where was she?

The realization came in a rush. It wasn't windier than normal. It was windy because of the altitude. They were on the long outdoor walkway that connected the main part of the castle with one of the connecting towers. The last time she had been on this walkway Crono and herself had nearly been killed fighting a mechanical dragon. She was being taken to the dungeons.

The footsteps came to a halt. They had made it to the dungeon tower. The prison where only the worst of Guardia's criminals were kept. Smalltime offenders were held in local jails, either in Truce or one of the nearby villages. Crono had been kept in this tower when he had been wrongly accused of kidnapping the Princess. Having collected enough information to at least understand a little of her situation she called to the soldier in front of her, "What is the meaning of this! Tell me what you are doing and why, right now!" It hurt more to talk than she had anticipated, so she didn't yell as loud as she would have liked. Still, the angry edge to her words spoke louder than any volume.

The soldier silently ignored her as he opened the large iron door and led them in. She knew it would be a waste of effort to ask again, it was obvious they weren't planning on answering, and it hurt too much to speak when it wouldn't do any good. Her anger rose, burning away the clouds in her mind. Within minutes they came to a halt again. This time in front of an empty cell. The leading soldier unlocked the gate, sliding the bars open. "Prisoner Lucca Ashtear, you have been arrested on suspicion of treason," he said, stepping to the side.

"What? You're out of your mind!" Lucca howled. Her anger making her forget how much it hurt to speak. "Do you even know what you just said? The Prince and the Princess are my two best friends, explain to me why I would betray them?"

"We have no obligation to explain anything to a traitor. Why you would poison the King is not my concern. It is only my concern that we have stopped you before His Majesty was killed, and that we prevent any further harm from coming to him."

Lucca could not believe what she was being told. The King had been sick for months. Nothing anything the doctors could do had been helping, and even though medicine wasn't her expertise she had tried to help as well. The King had become completely bedridden two weeks ago. It wasn't any poison that Lucca could think of. None that she had been able to find in her tests anyway. In all likelihood it was just a natural illness he had come down with, that his body couldn't fight off.

Outrage consumed her at the accusation. Hurting Guardia soldiers was the last thing she wanted to do, but something in the system had gone seriously wrong. She had no choice. In the blink of an eye she released her magic. Flames consumed her body. Lucca's own magic wouldn't do herself any harm, but it would kill anyone else. With a thought she committed the two men next to her to die and the magical fire intensified tenfold.

The fire flickered out, and Lucca fully expected to be free from the twin grips of the two men she had just killed. The cool metal of their steel gloved hands still held her. She could hear the sizzle of the ground beneath her where the stone had melted, but both of the soldiers were completely unharmed. As though nothing hotter than a candle had been lit in the room.

Her surprise turned into a nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could feel it now that she tried. Each of the three soldiers were cloaked in magic. It clung to them and their armor like a second skin. Worse, it was magic made specifically to counter fire: ice magic.

One of the soldiers holding her placed his free hand to the small of her back. With a thrust he roughly shoved her into the cell. The unexpected fall caused her to crash onto the cold stone floor, cracking her head. Fighting off the wave of nausea caused by the sudden pain she flung her hands into the air. Even if they had magical shielding she had to try. A fireball no larger than a thimble burst from the tips of her fingers and sputtered across the room, fizzing into nothingness before halving the distance between her and the soldiers.

The iron bars slammed shut with a frightening finality. "This cell has been designed to nullify your magic. We are not as stupid as you think us, traitor." Lucca tried to summon another ball of flame. This time all she managed was a spark. The air in the cell was unnaturally chilly. The heat seemed to be sucked from her very bones.

The soldier in charge locked the cell gates with the simple twist of a key. She recognized his voice now that she thought of it. His name was Eric. Captain Eric Storkson, leader of the Royal Guards specifically tasked with protecting the Princess.

"Lucca Ashtear you have been charged with suspicion of treason. By decree of Princess Nadia you shall remain here until a time and date where the authorities of Guardia can put you on trial." Eric turned and headed down the hallway. Leading his men out of the dungeon. Leaving Lucca to her confused and terrified thoughts.

* * *

_Truce Canyon, 600 A.D._

A scream was caught in her throat. Using all of her will power she forced it down. The imp's lifeless eyes stared unseeing into the morning air. It was propped against the trunk of a tree, a grotesque snarl on its green lips, a long wicked looking knife clutched in its hand, a crossbow bolt stuck firmly in its bulbous forehead. Dead. Dead as a doornail. She had heard a castle guard use the phrase before, at the time it had seemed funny. It wasn't very funny right now. It was morbid. Princess Nadia gave an involuntary shudder as she turned away from the imp.

And it _was_ an imp. She'd only seen pictures of them before, but there was no mistaking it. She nocked another bolt into her crossbow. Why was an imp in Guardia? Mutual hatred had kept the humans and the mystics separated for as long as anyone knew, and after the Mystic War had ended four hundred years previous, few people had seen any. So why was this one in the northern woodlands of Guardia? Unless she wasn't in Guardia anymore. A chill ran down her spine.

Princess Nadia had assumed that Lucca's device, the telepod, had simply sent her somewhere into the woods. Somehow her necklace, an heirloom from her dead mother, had caused the machine to malfunction and sent her somewhere it wasn't supposed to. At first she wasn't overly concerned, judging from the trees it looked like the forests of Guardia, so she just set out on making her way back, and hoped it hadn't sent her too far away. For the last half hour she had been making her way south, then she ran into the imp.

Even though she was a princess, Nadia was no stranger to the forest, or a little adventure. Against her father's wishes she was constantly sneaking out. Sometimes she'd head into one of the villages, at times even as far as Truce. She always ran the risk of being discovered and sent back to the castle. Sometimes when she didn't want to risk being discovered, she'd explore the woods around the castle. It was during these 'camping trips' that she had taught herself to use a crossbow (nicked from the castle armory). Some nobility would gasp if they realized the Princess knew how to hunt and cook rabbits for herself. A princess with survival skills? Ghastly! The thought always brought a smile to her lips.

She had worn common clothes into Truce earlier that day. The Millennial Fair was starting and she was not about to miss out on the fun. If she were to go in her official capacity as Princess then her father would have sent at least a dozen guards, and nobody would even see her, they would just see the Princess. She would be nothing but another attraction at the fair. No, she wanted to have fun, and have people treat her like a human being. Even though she had no use for the crossbow in town, she had hoped it would help conceal her true identity. Today she was Marle, the girl with survival skills, and not Nadia, the darling Princess.

The imp hadn't cared who she was. As long as the human died it would have been happy. It drew its long curved knife and had run straight for her. Luck, and a little practiced skill had let Marle hit the imp when she fired. It had stumbled back a few paces, confused at the bolt protruding from above its eyes, and with one final snarl at the human girl, it collapsed against a tree.

The natural assumption was that the telepod had sent her somewhere in Guardia, but the imp cast doubts on this. What if she wasn't on the Zenan Continent at all? What if she had been teleported all the way to the Mystic Continent in the east? Her blood ran cold. It was certainly in the realm of possibilities.

Holding her crossbow at the ready she continued making her way south. The adventure had suddenly ceased being any fun. She fought the urge to break into a run. For now it would be best to conserve her strength, and running when there was no need would only alert anyone in the area to her whereabouts. As long as she didn't run head first into a mystic village, she could still make it out alive. Marle paused for half a moment, and then turned to her right and started west. There was one human that dared to live on the same continent as the mystics. If she remembered correctly he was some kind of blacksmith, some of the higher ranking Knights of the Square Table used blades of his make. Whether the mystics left him alone out of respect or fear, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was a human, and would probably help her out.

Her confidence grew a bit as her plan solidified. She would head west, if she was still on Zenan she would likely come across her castle, and if not, she would just have to find the blacksmith. Her thoughts drifted to the boy she had met at the fair. Crono had treated her like nobody ever had, a regular girl and potential friend. His friend Lucca had also seemed like a good person. She supposed other people put in her place might hate Lucca, maybe they would even be justified in it. After all it was her experimental machine, using who knew what kind of technology, that had launched her half way across the planet and into enemy territory.

Marle wasn't mad. She was scared, not only for herself but for Lucca as well. Even if she found this blacksmith and made it home safely, who knew how long the journey could take. The best case scenario was a couple weeks, worst case, months. If she was gone that long her father would be in an uproar. It would eventually come out that Lucca's telepod had been the cause of her disappearance. The King would want blood, and the Kingdom would be of like mind. Even Crono might be blamed for taking her to such a dangerous machine. Both of her potential new friends could be executed by the time she made it back.

Dark thoughts sped her feet, but she retained the self control not to run. A decision that saved her life, for had she have ran it would have been straight into a swarm of imps. Instead she walked into them. Three of the short green creatures stared up at her in shock, before one started calling out. Soon more appeared from within the thick forest. Appearing as from thin air. In the space of a few moments more than a dozen imps stood before her, with more appearing every second. The one that had called the others pulled out his long knife and babbled something to the others in a language she couldn't understand. The words made no sense, but the meaning couldn't have been clearer.

The one speaking was probably a leader of some sort. Without hesitating she fired her crossbow, catching the surprised imp square in the chest. It fell back with a grunt, temporarily stunning its companions. In that moment of hesitation she turned and took off in a dead sprint the way she had come. Behind her she could hear the small army of imps crashing through the forest after her. Fighting off panic, Marle grabbed another bolt. After a moment of fumbling it dropped to the ground. She had never reloaded her crossbow on the run before. She tried again. It took what felt like an eternity to load, but she finally had it nocked.

Without warning she made a hard right turn, at the same time firing in the general direction of the imps. Luckily the bolt struck one in the leg. With a high pitched scream of pain it tumbled to a halt. Fear and adrenaline guided her legs as she swept past the trees, but despite their small size the imps were faster still. The ground ahead sloped steeply downward, though she desperately tried to keep her momentum going the slope slowed her. The imps weren't slowed at all by the downhill terrain. Instead of running many just leaped forward, rolling down the hill with speed Marle couldn't hope to match.

She had been screaming for help. Only now did she realize this. For how long she didn't know, but her throat was already hoarse from the effort. As the ground leveled back out she franticly tried reloading the crossbow again, but her foot caught on the root of an old half rotted tree. She landed heavily on her side, twisting and snapping the unloaded bolt in two.

The imps surrounded her, smiling greedily at their prize. Marle got to her knees, but didn't bother standing. There was nowhere left to run, and they would easily over power her before she could nock another bolt, let alone fire it. One imp took a couple steps towards her waving its knife. It gabbled at her, slashing the blade through the air for emphasis. Then it spoke the only words she could understand, "Death to the Mystic's enemies!"

An imp near the back started to frown, barked a couple words and turned around. The others' eyes followed. Something was crashing through the woods straight at them. The imp that approached her turned around and scratched the top of its bald green head, making a couple confused chirps. Its eyes went suddenly as wide as gold coins. Guardia soldiers atop of war horses charged through the trees. The imps turned to run, but the horses were already upon them.

A few were instantly trampled underneath kicking hooves, others were cut down by swords, sending chunks of green gore splattering to the forest floor. A mist of green blood hung in the air as the imps were slaughtered. Being the weakest, but most common, of the mystics, imps were only dangerous when they had the advantage of numbers. Even that did them little good against mounted knights.

Less than half accomplished the retreat. A few of the knights drew long bows, picking off their escaping foes with ease. Their leader, a knight wearing golden armor looked down at her, relief instantly washing over his weary face. He leaped off his horse and knelt before her. Marle sighed with relief. Even though she hadn't ever seen any of the knights wear this style of armor, they each bore the Royal Crest on their breastplates. They had come to rescue their Princess. But if that was the case, then why were imps in Guardia?

The Knight smiled at her with a face she didn't recognize. Standing he pointed out to the woods after the few imps that hadn't been slain. Their retreat could still be heard in the distance as sticks underneath them violently snapped. "Four of you chase them down. Save one for questioning, kill the rest."

With a salute they raced off. "Thank you," was all Marle could come up with.

"It's a pleasure my Queen. I'm only glad we found you unharmed." His eyes shone with deep sincerity. "But if I may, why are you wearing those ridiculous clothes. And where did you get a crossbow?"

Marle was stunned. She was a princess, Princess Nadia, not Queen Nadia. She opened her mouth, but words didn't come out.

Another of the Knights smiled at her. "Queen Leene, praise be to all that's good that we found you. His Majesty has been worried sick. As have we all."

Marle blanched. Where had Lucca sent her?

* * *

_Lucca's Orphanage, 100__4 __A.D._

With a sigh Lucca sat the pen down. She had been working on a single equation for most of the night. When things had settled down four years ago she had been ecstatic about sitting down and figuring out how time travel worked. Every time she had stepped into a Gate or flew in the Epoch, her mind would spin with curiosity as to how it all worked. At the time they had had more important matters to attend to, such as saving the future from a world eating alien parasite, but once they had defeated Lavos and changed the fate of their planet, she was free to figure out the mysteries that intrigued her so.

Using her first hand knowledge she had been able to write page after page of theories based off the outcomes she had known would happen under given situations. The math had been exciting at the start as well. As a starting point she had used the equations she had worked out for the telepod. Time travel was actually a form of teleportation, just with an additional dimension thrown into the mix. It still boiled down to the bridging of locations, only the locations now had temporal coordinates to go along with the spatial ones.

Adding the fourth dimension had made the math more complicated than she had thought possible. At first she had worked on it with her father, Taban, but he had always been better at building things. Anything from simple blacksmithing, to complex circuitry, his foremost talent had been creating things with his hands. Theoretical sciences not only held little appeal to him, but he also had surprisingly little skill in those fields. This left Lucca on her own to invent higher levels of math.

Yawning, she twisted from side to side, popping her stiff back. She placed the little leather notebook on the stack of her other books and grabbed a slightly thicker blue book. Her mind needed a rest from the math. A smile played across her lips, she'd let her mind cool down by finishing up some of the non-mathematical theory, but it wasn't long before this started to hurt as well. Her theories explained almost everything, everything except one very important thing: the Grandfather Paradox.

It was one of the oldest philosophical arguments against time travel. It posed the question, what if a person traveled back in time and killed their own grandfather? If the grandfather was to die before meeting the grandmother then one of the time travelers parents would never have been born, and his own existence would then be negated. Of course that would mean that if they had not been born, they couldn't go back to kill their grandfather, so they then _would_ have been born. The paradox continued to chase itself in circles, seemingly unanswerable.

The Grandfather Paradox did not exist. This Lucca knew to be an undeniable fact. Along with Crono and her other friends they had personally tested this theory, repeatedly, and in all situations the outcome remained the same: the time travelers remained immune to the effects of the altered timeline. More accurately, it worked out the same in all situations except one. The disappearance of Marle.

When Marle had been accidentally launched four-hundred years into the past, the royal Knights of Guardia had rescued her instead of her ancestor, Queen Leene. This would have lead to Leene's death, which had caused Marle to vanish. At the time Lucca had assumed that she was witnessing the Grandfather Paradox first hand. Her and Crono had proceeded to rescue Leene before she was actually killed, and the result had brought Marle back.

Lucca frowned, tapping her foot in frustration. Why had the Grandfather Paradox been invoked just that one time? They had been so busy during the rest of the adventure to notice that at no other time did they create a paradox. They should have though. Lucca absently flipped through page upon page of paradoxes that should have occurred, recorded from her own superb memory. Not a single one had. Except the first, the one with Marle and Leene.

Not only was it an isolated event, but it didn't even play out properly. Had a paradox truly been formed then herself and Crono should not have remained in the past. If Marle had never been born, then she never would have gone back in time, and they never would have followed her back. Yet they had followed her back and had not been negated out of the past like they should have been. Lucca's frown deepened. But upon fixing the supposed paradox Marle _had_ returned.

"Lucca?"

Lucca turned to the doorway, forgetting her thoughts for the moment. A little girl with messy blonde hair stood rubbing her sleep encrusted eyes. Lucca smiled. "Good morning Kid."

The girl walked over to Lucca and climbed into her lap, mumbling a still sleepy good morning, and cuddled up to her surrogate sister. Lucca absently tussled the girl's hair. "What do you think Kid? Why does it contradict itself?"

"Dunno."

The list of paradoxes that had not happened stared up at her. Each declaring their silent testimony of the scientific truth. Contradictions didn't exist. Sometimes it seemed as though they did, but they didn't. Marle's disappearance seemed to fit a paradox, but it could not have been a paradox. It was something else entirely. Lucca focused on that simple fact. There were no paradoxes; the answer existed it just wasn't clear. "Then what happened? What on earth caused Marle to simply vanish, then later reappear? And why was the timing so perfect?"

All Marle said she remembered was a dark place where she felt all alone. The End of Time? Something else like it? But why did she go there? And how? "Kid, I think I'm going to go to the castle today and visit Marle. You'll be a good girl for my mom and dad won't you?" Kid nodded enthusiastically. Even though Lucca had offered to buy a separate house to start her orphanage in, her parents would hear nothing of it. The two had insisted on helping out. Taban had even built on a whole new section onto their home to house all the children.

Lucca kissed Kid on the forehead, sitting her on the floor. "Good, I'll get dressed then."

* * *

_Guardia Castle, 1004 AD_

Marle was a very good listener. To Lucca's pleasure, Marle enjoyed hearing about her friend's work and theories. Some days they would spend hours just sitting and talking. Even though Marle never would be able to comprehend the full technical details, she was plenty smart enough to grasp the simplified versions. At times Marle would pose questions, Lucca would then answer to the best of her ability or promise her friend that she'd have to take it on faith. That or let Lucca explain the finer points of upper level mathematics.

"But if it wasn't because Leene was going to die then what happened to me?" Marle asked, looking concerned.

Lucca shrugged. "That's what I can't figure out. At the time it was easy to assume that you had accidentally created a paradox preventing your birth, but we really didn't have much knowledge on time travel then." She took another drink of tea. "I was hoping that you might have remembered something? Anything would help."

Frowning, Marle sat her wine glass down. "I don't. Really. I just know I was someplace dark. Mostly I just remember being scared. I've tried to forget about it, but if you think it will help I'll try to remember." She stood. "I'll be right back. I need to use the bathroom."

Lucca nodded and took another sip of her tea. Marle had seemed slightly funny. She had been drinking a lot in the recent months, ever since her father had taken ill. Lucca supposed it was a predictable development. She'd be worried too if one her parents was that sick. Lucca just hoped her friend wouldn't let the drinking get out of control; although, Crono didn't seem to be too concerned.

He had been gone a lot recently, having taken his role as the kingdom's Prince more seriously in the last year. It wasn't uncommon for him to be gone for weeks at a time on a variety of diplomatic missions. With the King ill it only seemed to increase the number of trips he took. The possibility of having kingship placed on his shoulders must have been weighing on him pretty hard. It was only reasonable that he'd want to prove himself a good leader.

The distinctive clacking of boots brought her to attention. A knight walked in through the door. Unlike most soldiers who wore non-combative dress uniforms during peacetimes at the castle, the guards sworn to specifically protect the royal family always had on full plate mail. Lucca recognized this man as Eric Storkson, the captain specifically assigned to Marle.

Lucca thought his short wavy hair and hazel eyes to be rather charming. She smiled, rose out of her seat and offered her hand. "Eric, how have you bee-"

Without returning the smile or answering, Eric raised his fist and punched Lucca in the face. For a split second colors flashed in her vision, but it all almost instantly went black. Lucca lay on her back, her broken glasses on the floor next to her head. Two other knights came in behind Eric, each grabbing one of Lucca's arms, they lifted her limp body.

"Her cell has been prepared. Follow me." Eric headed out the door, and the others followed with the comatose woman.


	2. Verse II: Quaestio

**Verse II: Quaestio**

_Guardia Castle, 600 A.D._

Marle sat on the corner of the bed waiting. She'd seen him from the balcony and then given the guards specific orders to let him in. According to her the red haired young man had saved her life earlier in the forest. The statement had the desired effect, and she was almost certain they'd grant him an audience with her now. After all he was the hero who had protected their Queen.

When he entered the doorway she stood, and forced her face to straighten. "Please, leave us." She said to the two attendants that had been doting over her every wish. "I wish to speak to this individual."

"Certainly, your Highness," one said as they both gave deep bows and headed out the door.

"Don't be afraid sir," Marle said. "You may come closer."

The teenage boy hesitated momentarily, looking as confused as was to be expected, then he made his way closer. "Umm, Queen Leene?" He stopped talking, unsure of what to say, or what was going on.

Try as she might Marle couldn't suppress a sudden fit of giggles seeing the look on his face. "Did I fool you, Crono?" She laughed. "Don't worry it's just me, Marle."

Crono let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness." He visibly relaxed as he continued forward. "I thought it was you, but...I...well, Marle what's going on?"

She shrugged maintaining her smile. "I'm not really sure, but we're still in Guardia, and everyone keeps calling me Leene. They think I'm their Queen."

"That could be because it's the year 600," Crono said. "Somehow Lucca's telepod, I don't know, I guess it just freaked out because of your pendent." He pulled the blue medallion out of his pocket and tossed it to her.

Her smile widened as she caught the treasured heirloom. "Oh Crono! Thank you! And thank you for coming for me, even though we hardly know each other."

Shrugging self consciously, Crono grinned. "If I had a penny for every time I chased a pretty girl back in time I'd…well I guess I'd probably go hungry."

Marle spontaneously hugged her new found friend as tight she could. After a moment of surprise Crono relaxed and hugged her back. She looked up at him. "I figured it out that I was in the past...it just doesn't seem real..." Her voice trailed off as she suddenly clutched her stomach in pain. She took a few steps back and sat down on the Queen's bed.

"What's wrong?" Crono asked, the worry clear in his voice. "Maybe the food from this era just doesn't agree with you," he suggested with a forced smile.

Her eyes glistened with tears of pain as she looked up. "Crono something's wrong..." She had gone white as a sheet. "It feels like I'm being torn apart from the inside out." The room grew dark, as though the light had been sucked through the very fabric of reality. She looked up to his face, her eyes full of desperate panic. "I'm scared...h-help me!"

She suddenly screamed, but the sound was mixed with a queer shrieking noise that didn't seem to have a locatable source. Then she was gone. Crono blinked at the flash that hadn't been a flash. If anything it had been the opposite of a flash. The silhouette of where she had stood suddenly had gone dark, as though the space she occupied had been completely emptied, leaving a dark, empty vacuum. A moment later it was full of both light and air, and the rest of the room lit back up.

Crono swallowed. For the first time in his life he felt like he was about to faint.

* * *

_Unknown Place, Unknown Time_

Dizzy was an understatement. Even though she lay flat on her back, and held her eyes shut tight, the world continued to spin. At least the pain was gone, she thought. As bad as the sickening dizziness was, it was worlds better than the searing pain that had torn through her like a hurricane. That mind numbing pain had caused everything to go black, and the next thing she knew the world went from a hurricane of agony, to a tornado of dizziness.

"Crono?" she called out as the spinning subsided. "I...I think I'm okay, maybe." When he didn't respond she slowly opened her eyes. The sky overhead was clear and gray. It took a moment to register that this wasn't normal, not to mention she was no longer indoors.

Marle sat up as quickly as she dared and inspected her surroundings. She sat in nothing more than a large meadow, the grass looked normal enough, it was still green. A few trees could be seen not far away. They too looked fairly normal, but the sky was not. A few wisps of white clouds rolled by overhead, their contrast against the gray sky was alien. No wind blew, yet overhead the skinny clouds moved along unhurriedly.

To the east she saw it. Exactly what it was she couldn't tell, but it was the absolute largest building she had ever seen. Then again maybe it was closer than it appeared. The flat landscape made it hard to judge the distance; however, she got the feeling that it was very, very far away.

Nothing could be seen in the other directions, so hoping for the best Marle started toward the colossal building. From her viewpoint it looked roughly square, and stood nearly as high as it was long. In the center of the side facing her there was a large rectangular dark area, black against the white stone that made up the rest of it. It could have been a door, but if it was as big as she suspected then it would have been more of a giant gate.

She walked for what seemed to be hours without the looming object growing any closer. At one point she passed a camp fire surrounded by men dressed in animal furs. Most had long unkempt beards and shaved heads. All had bulging muscles, at least the equal to any of Guardia's biggest knights. Crude swords and battle axes lay next to them, many displaying the stains of dried blood. Each of them bore a symbol on their right shoulder, a symbol that had been branded on, as with a cattle iron. What scared her the most was that the symbol was oddly familiar. Where she knew it from danced at the corners of her mind but stayed consistently out of reach. She had come upon them without realizing it, otherwise she most definitely would have tried avoiding these men at all costs.

To both her surprise and relief the men didn't notice her. They sat unmoving next to a fire that burned without giving off heat. With a pang of horror she realized that the men were paralyzed. Maybe even frozen by some dark magic, whatever the cause it made her pulse speed up. Without looking back she hurried on. It wasn't until she looked for the sun, in order to tell the time that she realized that there wasn't one. The sky was equally bright in all areas. Marle found herself wishing that she was anywhere else, even the Mystic Continent would be an improvement over this place. Even if she were smack in the middle of Medina her situation wouldn't seem so bad.

Regardless of the lack of sun, the day grew darker as night approached. Eventually a small house rose up in the distance, by the time she reached it the gray sky had turned almost entirely black. The inside was too dark to make out, and she couldn't find any lamps, or a means to light any. In the end she groped her way to a bed and laid down. Despite her fear, Marle fell asleep.

* * *

_Guardia Castle, 100__4 __A.D._

Falling asleep in the cold was near impossible. Lucca's cell radiated the chill of magic from the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. She lay curled on the bare bed hugging her legs to her stomach. She wished only for something to wrap up in, even a thin blanket would be an improvement. If only she had worn warmer clothes, but it had been warm, and all she thought to put on was a pair of black shorts and a simple orange shirt. The thin clothes were fine for a warm summer day, but they were near useless in a frozen dungeon cell.

It wasn't dangerously cold, at least not in the short term. How long had she been in the cell? Days? Weeks? No, it hadn't been that long. A week seemed about right, but not much longer than that. It seemed much longer however. The perpetual cold made every waking moment a thing of misery. Sleep only came when her mind was too exhausted to feel the cold anymore. That numbness came not nearly often enough.

Even worse than the cold was the constant reminder that Marle herself had enchanted the cell, had enchanted the cell specifically to hold her, to punish her. The fact that Marle could think that Lucca would try to hurt her father was unbearable. The pain of that accusation ripped at her heart. At times Lucca tried to come up with other explanations for her situation. Maybe there was something else working from behind the scenes. Something like another Yakra. Marle might not even know what had happened to her, not if someone, or something else was pulling the strings.

What were the chances of someone with ice magic infiltrating Guardia's government? And seizing control of the Princess's personal guard? There wasn't a chance. Marle had enchanted the cell and the guards' armor, and knew exactly what was happening to her. She had ordered it, because she believed Lucca had tried to murder her father. There was no other explanation.

It must have taken weeks to enchant the cell. To do such a perfect job could only have been accomplished over a long period of time. That meant that Marle had been planning this for some time. This thought also hurt Lucca. It wasn't a knee-jerk reflex out of passion. Marle must have utterly believed in her guilt.

Though Lucca heard the clacking of boots approaching she didn't get up. One of the dungeon guards had come a couple times per day to bring 'her meal'. A meal consisting of a scrap of bread and a glass of water. Ice water. To other prisoners it would have been considered an unbelievable luxury to get ice in their water, but to Lucca it was an insult. An ugly and pointed insult that cut her to the bone. The first time she saw the ice in the water she had almost cried. Still she was too thirsty not to drink the water, ice or no, very much was never brought.

Her hunger was the third pain of her imprisonment. Over the last week she had only eaten the few slices of dry bread that came with the water. The hunger only compounded with the cold to make the misery worse. At least she had little reason to use the chamber pot that sat in the corner of the frigid room. Lucca suspected that they had no intention of changing it. The cell hadn't started stinking too badly yet. Small favor.

She rose with a start at the sound of the cell's barred door opening. It was two of the guards, but who she couldn't tell. "My trial's so soon? My aren't we expedient," she spat, knowing full well that sarcasm might not be the best tactic to prove her innocence.

Ignoring her remark the two guards seized her off the bed, lifting her forcefully into the air. Under good conditions she wouldn't have been able to fight off the two large guards, and her half starved, half frozen state hardly qualified as a good condition. "Let me go!" She snarled, trying her best to twist out of their iron grip. The guards' only reply was to slam her against an icy wall, pinning her hands above her head. A moment later Lucca found both her wrists bound and chained to the wall. The chains had been sized for a man, and as it was her toes just touched the ground.

"You can't leave me up here!" She cried in sudden desperation as the two men started away.

Without turning one replied, "The Princess fears that you might find a way to escape. For the safety of those in the castle we have been ordered to insure that doesn't happen." Lucca struggled to fight back the tears. They knew she was no threat. This had been nothing more than another way to make her more miserable than she already was. Another way for Marle to punish her.

* * *

_Village of Nokk, 1004 A__.__D__._

It was an unremarkable village. Its population was at most only a couple hundred. Few people had ever heard of Nokk, despite its location just south of the Zenan Bridge. It was placed just west of the main road, so even those traveling between Guardia and Porre had no reason to go there. The man who had just entered had a reason.

He wore a large gray cloak with a hood that covered his head and concealed his face. Though he had come with others he entered the town alone. The rest waited a short distance away, not wanting to scare the locals with their presence. His entourage contained more armed soldiers than the town contained citizens. There was no need to frighten these people.

Being as small as it was, Nokk wasn't very hard to search, and before long the man came upon the store he was looking for. The single story building was withered with age. The whitewashed walls had long ago faded to gray. Of all the town's old buildings it appeared to be the oldest. A barely legible sign hung above the door reading: Antiquities. The man smiled, it was a fitting place.

The door creaked as he pushed his way in. The inside was dimly lit with a few small oil lamps, strategically placed around the store to make the most of their weak light. The man's gaze swept across the room taking in all that it had to offer. Most was junk, garbage thats age did little to increase the value, yet among all the trash were also treasures. He smiled. One treasure was especially important. An old woman approached him. Her white hair and dry wrinkled face fit in perfectly with the store she owned. "Looking for anything particular, good sir? Or do ye wish to jus' browse a bit?"

"I'm looking for a mirror." From underneath the hood his calm voice was surprisingly young.

The old woman smiled, showing off more gum than teeth. "Oh, we have plenty of lovely mirrors, young master." A long bony finger pointed to a wall lined with antique mirrors. "Some be very old. I've some fancy and some plain, lovely all. See anything ye like?"

The young man nodded slightly under his hood. "Yes, I can see you have a very nice selection, but what I was looking for was more..." He trailed off as his gaze turned from the mirrors on the wall and ended on the room's far corner. A tall object rested underneath an old sheet.

"Oh, I'm sure that ye'd find these more to ye're liking." She called after him as he made his way to the corner. With only a slight tug on the fabric the sheet fell away, revealing a tall elegant mirror. It was nearly as tall as the man himself, and even though it wasn't flashy, the polished wooden frame was all the more beautiful for the simplicity of the design. Using a single finger the man gently stroked the wooden frame. "Ye don't want that old thing," she said. "Why would that one even be of interest?"

"No, this _is_ the one I want." He turned to face the old woman. "How much?"

"Are ye sure I can't interest you in another?"

"Positive. This is a fine mirror, and I'm sure it will be expensive. Money is not an issue, name your price."

The woman frowned as she looked over to the mirror. "This mirror is...special...it is, well..."

"Yes, I know. It has magic."

She blinked. "And jus' how can ye tell that?" The question was not a challenge, but honest curiosity. The old woman came closer and appraised him carefully. "Why yes, I don't know how I didn't feel it before. Us with magic have become so very rare, but it hangs around you thicker than your cloak."

"I'm no stranger to magic." He made a gesture back to the mirror. "How much?"

"I give in. I can see I won't be changing ye're mind." She sighed and shook her head. "What do ye want with this mirror anyway?"

The man pushed back his hood, revealing wild spikes of red hair. "It's a present for my wife."


	3. Verse III: Tyrannus

**Verse III: Tyrannus**

_Unknown Place, Unknown Time_

It was still dark when Marle woke. For a moment she lay in the bed confused, before remembering the previous day's events. She had ended up in the year 600 where the people had mistaken her for the Queen, her ancestor. Then she had disappeared, and now she was here, wherever here was. She stood and went to the window. It was still dark outside, the black sky was adorned with unblinking stars. Unlike natural stars, that many a bard had likened to jewels, these stars appeared to be blemishes in the flat black sky.

"Ugly isn't it?"

Marle spun at the voice. "Who's there?"

Several lamps burst to flame, lighting the small house. In front of her stood a woman, perhaps in her late twenties, she wore a dress as elegant as Marle's own. Her auburn hair hung in curls that just touched her shoulders, and her dark eyes held Marle in an almost violent grip. The woman didn't smile. "My name is Orbiana Modilla. I am the Empress of the Modilla Empire."

A sudden realization struck Marle. The brand she had seen on the men around the camp fire had been the Modilla Crest. She'd only seen the symbol once, it had been during her history lessons. Nearly a thousand years before her birth there had been a great war that had decided the fate of the world. Several clans had fought for supremacy of the Zenan Continent. In the end clan Guardia had won and established their kingdom, but the other clans like the Modilla intermixed and lost their identity to the tides of time.

Marle swallowed, trying to bring some relief to her dry throat. "Modilla never had an empire."

Orbiana's lip twisted into a snarl. "That is where you are wrong. We had an empire so vast and powerful that you couldn't possibly comprehend." She swept her arms dramatically outward. "You are witness to all that is left. Nothing but a shadow."

"What is this place and how did I get here?" Marle met Orbiana's fierce stare head on, though she hardly felt confident.

"This place is called the Darkness Beyond Time, and it is a graveyard."

"Graveyard?"

"Oh, yes. It is a graveyard for dead 'timelines'. It is unimaginably vast. For the most part I've been contained to my own empire, but there are ways to cross over to other worlds, just as dead as this one."

"How does a world die?" Marle asked, her curiosity overpowering her fear of the answer.

Orbiana smiled humorlessly. "How do all worlds die? I don't know. How my own world died…that I shall never forget.

"To understand the death of my world you must first understand its birth. To do so you must relearn history. Nearly a thousand years before my birth Clan Modilla defeated the lesser tribes and clans on Zenan. We did so because we were strong, and the others weak. Clan Modilla rose to become the Modilla Empire. The lesser clans, Nashintilla, Guardia, Jhornum, they became our slaves.

"You shake your head because you don't yet understand. The history that you knew was wrong. At least initially. You see, we Modilla made a very grave mistake upon winning the War of Succession. We showed the pathetic lesser clans mercy. Instead of wiping them out as we should have done, we let them persist. For near a millennium they served us well. You yourself have seen the palace they helped us build. More vast and mighty than anything your pathetic 'kingdom' has ever hoped to achieve.

"The Imperial Palace took centuries to build. Without using your people as slaves it would have taken longer, but that would have been worth the alternative. A particular slave was born, as the fates would have it, on the very same day as I. Unlike my own, his birth went by unnoticed, until he reached adulthood. This man, this slave, his name was Demetrius Ashtear. And he murdered my world."

Marle shook her head again. She heard this woman's words, but they didn't make any sense. Modilla had been a rival clan that had fallen in the Battle of the Bridge. Afterwards Guardia had established a kingdom, _her_ kingdom. She opened her mouth to rebuke the woman, but was cut off by a stern glare.

"You will keep silent," Orbiana commanded. "As I said Demetrius Ashtear brought about the death of my Empire, of my entire world. As was customary he was granted no education. Slaves like him needed none, and any who stole an education secretly were punished severely. Their entire family stripped naked and whipped to death, before all the other slaves to see. This discouraged the other slaves from taking what was not rightfully theirs, and kept proper order and balance in our ever expanding Empire.

"Ashtear ruined that order because he was born a freak. It would be arrogance to claim that he wasn't brilliant. While I revile him and his people I will acknowledge his mind. He stole our knowledge and educated himself. He was smart enough to grasp all of our collective knowledge and wisdom; he was even smart enough to expand on it. Exponentially. Worst of all, he was smart enough to keep it secret. Not a single person, Modilla, slave, or even in his own family knew of his brilliance. He played his part of an ignorant slave well, for a time, and then he started the Revolution.

"It was simply called the Revolution, because there had never been one before it. Once a people were conquered we never gave them the chance of even attempting to reclaim their independence. Ashtear understood how people think and he stirred a fire within the minds of the slaves. Stoking it slowly over time, all the while training specific people in specific skills. Skills that were not forbidden to slaves, but skills that Ashtear could use as weapons. Under my very nose this slave trained an army and caused an uprising."

Orbiana smiled her humorless smile. A smile Marle had come to recognize as being void of anything save for evil. "So this man, Demetrius, he overthrew your Empire? Killed it?"

"Stupid bitch," Orbiana snarled. "Have you not listened to my words at all? The might of the Modilla Empire was beyond compare! No army could defeat us. Especially not an army of slaves. Even though they wielded weapons crafted by the mind of that freak, and even though their minds had been poisoned by his words of hope, they were slaughtered. The Revolution ended after only a few short weeks. To prevent this from happening again we made an example of the Guardia slaves. We executed them all, every man, woman, child, infant…even those who had not participated in the rebellion. All of that filth erased from the world.

"All except for Demetrius Ashtear. Somehow he escaped, the sole survivor of Guardia. We now knew of his brilliance, and none of us expected to capture him. Furthermore, our eradication of his people ensured that no other race of slaves would ever rise up against us. If he ever returned, the slaves he preached to would be too terrified to listen. They likely would have killed him on the spot to spare their own race the 'Ashtear Fate'. We knew this and he knew this. I believed that I would never hear of him again.

"Exactly ten years from the day his people were destroyed he returned." Orbiana shook her head, with a semblance of curiosity etched across her face. "How he broke into the throne room we never knew, and I don't expect to ever learn, but enter he did. We all recognized him. Slightly aged though he was, his face was burned into our minds. We were stunned. I believed he had likely brought an explosive with him. One with enough power not only to kill myself and my guard, but possibly strong enough to reduce the Imperial Palace to a pile of dust.

"We all realized in that instant that he had spent the last decade planning his revenge. Some of my men might have assumed that assassinating me was the extent of his goal. I knew better, I knew that his mind was sharper than we had given him credit, but not even in my wildest nightmares could I have imagined just how smart the freak was. Just how deep his hatred for us ran, or how total his revenge would be.

"I'll never forget his words. He said to me, 'Empress you have wiped out my people, but you have underestimated my mind. If you knew what I was capable of you no doubt would have searched into every hole and under every rock for me. I have come for my revenge. In a single stroke I shall bring my own people back, and wipe your people out. You my dear Empress will be allowed to watch.' We laughed at him. A bomb was something a human mind could create. The greater the mind, the greater the bomb. But what he claimed was beyond ridiculous. He was still a man, not a god.

"Then he pulled a small object from under his jacket. It resembled an egg, and seemed no more sinister than an egg. We laughed harder, and he even joined in. For an instant it seemed that his mind had cracked and he was now just a simple madman. Then he looked into my eyes and I saw his hate for me. In that instant I understood that he didn't merely boast. He spoke the truth. I watched in horror as the egg fell from his hand and crashed to the floor.

"My world ended just like that. An egg shaped stone shattering on the marble floor of my throne room, and it was all gone. The palace was gone, replaced with flat unworked earth. 'We are in the past,' he said to me. 'I programmed that time-egg specifically to send the two of us over one thousand years into our past. We have the same birthday, you and I, so it wasn't too difficult to arrange.'

"Then he produced a second 'time-egg'. This one golden and said to me, 'This one will ensure you do not interfere with me, and it will sentence you to your ultimate fate.' I stood stunned as he struck me with the egg. It affected me in an odd way. I became insubstantial. I was like a ghost. I couldn't interact with the physical world anymore. Without any other option I followed him. And I watched helplessly as he placed explosives under the bridge that connected the upper and lower half of Zenan.

"History unfolded before my eyes. The army of Guardia crossed the bridge and entered the final battle against clan Modilla. They were routed and sent retreating back across the bridge. Modilla should have won that battle, but Ashtear lay hiding, and when the majority of Guardia had crossed the bridge and the majority of Modilla was still on it, he detonated his bombs. The bridge fell, the Empire of Modilla with it.

"Time had been altered. Guardia went on to dominate the land that rightfully belonged to _me_. As for my fate, I was cursed to exist in the Darkness Beyond Time, along with the shadow of my Empire. That second egg he hit me with tied me to my home timeline, and it ensured that I kept my awareness. He imprisoned me for eternity, leaving me with only a single window into the real world. So I could watch his people prosper in the stead of my own."

Marle's blood had run cold. "Then how did I get here? Why am I in this Darkness Beyond Time with you?"

"Because my darling Princess, Ashtear was as much of a fool as I. I gave him a decade to plot his revenge. He gave me an eternity. Though his mind was greater, I am not witless. That fool should have killed me when he had the chance; instead, he chose to make me suffer by forcing immortality upon me. I used that immortality to watch the flow of time, and learn things from the…natives."

"Natives? You mean people who live here? In this place?" Marle asked.

"More or less. People is a close enough term. They come from time to time, and they teach many things. Though I was a painfully slow learner, I had an endless amount of time to master the magic that they taught. And an equal amount of time to find a way out."

"How do you plan on leaving? You told me that Ashtear trapped you here forever."

"And so he did, but _you_ can come and go. I learned that time isn't as stable as most believe. Time is altered and reshaped continually. The people who do this reshaping, the time travelers, are not affected by the changes they cause. Demetrius lived a long life even though the time he was born in was destroyed, and the event of his birth never actually took place.

"However, when a time traveler does something that should destroy their own existence they become slightly unstable, slightly less real than other people. Not permanently, but for a slight period they can pass between reality and the Darkness Beyond Time. Your presence in the past has put your ancestry in danger, you my darling, became vulnerable to my grasp. With my magic it was a simple task of drawing you to me. An even simpler task will be that of possessing you, and when your friends fix the mistake with your ancestor and you become fully stable once again, I shall travel back to reality inside of you."

Marle took a defensive step back. "Oh don't worry," Orbiana simpered. "When my mind is ripped from this prison the shock is likely going to render me…unconscious…for quite some time. I expect that you'll have a few blissfully ignorant years to enjoy, before I am fully in control."

"Why me?"

"Isn't it obvious? You are royalty. I am royalty. I could have taken control of many other fools, but I don't want to just live free. I want to rule. I _deserve_ to rule! I will show your weak kingdom how real power rules! Your kingdom has for too long been ruled by the weak. In me it will finally have a worthy Queen. And I shall use your body to bare myself a child. When it is finally time for your child to rule, and me to die, I will transfer myself into their body. For all ages I will have the throne I was born to!"

"You're crazy," Marle said. "You can't have my body, and you won't have my kingdom. I, I won't let you!"

"Strong words Princess, unfortunately there is nothing you can do to stop me. You can't even move."

To her horror Marle realized that Orbiana was right, she could no longer make her body do anything other than stand there. With grace fitting a Queen, Orbiana walked to Marle, and gently lifted her chin. For a moment Marle thought that she intended on kissing her, but before the two mouths met Orbiana stopped short. Instead of a kiss, Orbiana blew into Marle's open mouth. After several minutes Orbiana's body fell to the floor and turned to smoke.

Marle blinked. She turned to a large wooden dresser that sat next to the bed. On it sat a large mirror. She examined herself a moment, then dropped her dress to the floor, kicking it to the side. Her underclothes followed suit. After another moment of observation she spun, watching her body twirl in the glass's reflection.

A cold smile came to her lips. "At least this body's pretty enough. Yes, I think it will do nicely. After all it wouldn't do for the true ruler of Zenan to be unsightly."

* * *

_Guardia Castle, 1004 AD_

Lucca's arms burnt with the effort of supporting her weight. Her legs felt, if anything, worse. The guards had managed to put her in the most uncomfortable, unbearable position possible. The single day she had spent chained to the wall was agony worse than the previous week's discomforts. Lucca found herself wanting her sentence to be passed, and for her execution to be carried out.

The sound of approaching footfalls brought her back to her senses. It was the first time she had been visited since they had chained her up. The next thing she noticed was that it wasn't the metallic clack of steel boots on stone floor. It was the lighter tapping of regular shoes on stone.

The visitor opened the gate and entered the cell, but it wasn't until she was within a foot of Lucca's face that she could recognize her.

Lucca gulped back a sob. "Marle, I would never poison your father! Please, you have to believe me. I'd never do anything to her hurt you or your family!" Lucca's plea was equally a bid for her life and a sincere attempt to make her friend realize that she wouldn't ever try to kill her father. The thought of Marle thinking those things about her hurt just as bad as the chains that bound her wrists.

Instead of replying Marle smiled. A smile as perfectly cold as the prison cell she stood in. A hard open palm slap caught Lucca by surprise, before she could do anything but cry out a second slap followed. Marle rained blow upon blow onto Lucca without hesitation. Both forehand and backhand blows whipping her head side to side.

When Marle finally ceased Lucca's entire face was numb with agony. She could feel her own warm blood running freely down her face and neck. If not for the new agony the heat might almost have felt good. Lucca opened her mouth to speak, but the only thing that came out was a weak plea of, "Stop…"

Marle struck again splattering Lucca's blood onto the magically chilled stone wall. "Stop? Stop? Oh no, after all the pain your pathetic bloodline has caused me I have no intention of stopping."

Marle's next blow was to Lucca's stomach. It was so fierce that the air was violently ripped from her lungs, causing her to choke on her own blood. "You have the same damned eyes. The same damned hair as him. The same damned mind. The fates have cruelly kept him out of my reach. I'm afraid that bastard Demetrius will be forever safe from me, but the fates have at least delivered you to me. The obvious descendant of the damned Ashtear line."

She roughly gripped Lucca's hair and slammed her head back into the wall. The pain was tremendous, but the blow hadn't been near enough to knock her out. "I don't… understand." Lucca managed with a monumental effort.

"You don't need to understand, bitch." Marle hit Lucca again with savage pleasure. "It is enough for you to know that I was wronged, and now I'm taking my just vengeance out on you."

"Fine," Lucca sobbed, through her pain and confusion she just wanted it to end. "Beat me to death then."

"Oh you'll die by my hands, be assured of that," Marle said, the venom of her words was nearly as painful as her physical blows, "but don't go thinking it will be quick. I've waited a very long time for revenge. I plan on breaking you so thoroughly that even hell will be a reprieve.

"I'm sure you've been very cold these last several days. After all the only way to safely keep you in this cell was by freezing it with magic." Gingerly running her hand down Lucca's bloody and bruised face, Marle smiled wickedly. "But I'm sure this dungeon holds many prisoners who'd more than love to keep a pretty girl such as yourself nice and warm."

Lucca coughed as she choked in surprise. "No." She shook her head weakly. "Marle…no…you can't…" A single look into Marle's eyes convinced Lucca otherwise. This was no empty threat. Each of Marle's poisoned words was a deadly promise.

"Oh, I can and I will." Marle laughed. It was hideous and cold, nothing like the bubbly happy laugh Lucca used to associate with her friend. "I'm sure the prisoners will find you to be a most suitable whore. I'll wait until you've run out of ways to be humiliated and tortured. Until you no longer have any care about yourself, until I've broken your will to live so much that you stop caring about what they do to you.

"Then I have a nasty feeling that your orphanage might meet a bad accident. It will be a truly awful thing for you to watch. The home you once knew burning down. Your parents and all those children trapped inside. I'm sure their screams will haunt you for the rest of your pathetic life. Fortunately for you it won't go on much longer than that. I figure that by then nothing I can do will matter much to you anymore, so I'll finish you off."

Marle's grin widened. "Maybe I'll freeze your limbs off and watch you writhe in agony until you breathe your last."

Lucca's eyes shone with the most sincere terror she had ever felt in her life. "You can't…please…do anything to me…just leave my parents and the children alone…please, you can't…not Kid…"

"See this is why I told you instead of keeping it a surprise. Now you won't be looking forward to it all ending. Now you'll be that much harder to break, and my revenge will taste all the sweeter. Believe me Ashtear, I have spoken every word true. This is your future."

Lucca's horror was so complete that she never heard the boot falls of the approaching soldiers until they were entering the cell. Marle looked momentarily surprised by their arrival. The surprise was replaced with her ice cold smile. "Why not start now, Ashtear?" In a single savage movement Marle ripped open Lucca's thin shirt, sending buttons clattering across the silent cell, with another yank Lucca's shorts fell to the floor leaving Lucca hanging exposed in only her bra and panties.

"I know I promised you prisoners, but I think I'll let these soldiers start you out. After all they've served me very loyally, and I reward loyalty." Marle turned to the soldiers. "I'm sure you three can manage the rest of her clothes yourself. Do not worry for in here you break no laws. She is a criminal, and has forfeited all rights. Do with her as you please."

Lucca shut her eyes tight with dread as the first knight approached. By his size she could tell it was Eric. She tried desperately not to think of what they would do to her. About what they would do to the orphanage. She flinched as he gripped her arm and unlocked her shackles. He supported her weight as she fell into his big arms. She supposed he'd lay her on the bed next. She loathed what was coming, but couldn't find the strength, or a reason, to fight back.

"Arrest Princess Nadia, at once," Eric said in a very tight strained voice. He put Lucca gently onto the bed in a sitting position, undid the fastens on the cape he wore around his armored shoulders, and draped it around hers. "Lady Lucca please accept my apologies. I know you must be scared and confused, but it's all over now."

"What are you doing!" Marle shrieked. "I gave you your orders, fool!" She turned to the other two soldiers. "Kill the traitor and rape the woman! Or are you too dense to understand simple words?"

Eric sharply issued his own commands to his subordinates. "Arrest the Princess now. Immediately restrain her before she can cause anymore harm."

The knights each seized one of Marle's arms and began dragging her down the hallway. "We're sorry Princess, but you're not yourself right now, the Prince will be back soon and he'll put things right."

They left Lucca's limited field of vision quickly, but she could hear Marle's shrieks and curses continue as they drug her further down the hall. "What's going on?" she weakly asked.

Eric produced her glasses from a leather pouch on his side and slid them onto Lucca's face. "I had these fixed for you, Princess Nadia has gone…mad. Prince Crono has seen this coming for a while and is trying to find a way to help her. A message arrived earlier stating he'd be returning to the castle today. Hopefully, he is back soon. Things are very quickly going out of control."

Lucca shook her head. "I don't understand? I'm not being tried for treason? And what's wrong with Marle? Where's Crono?" Now that it seemed her doom wasn't impending she found it much easier to think.

Eric sighed. "The charge of treason was the excuse Princess Nadia was using to treat you this way. As for what's wrong with her, I'm afraid I don't really know. Something to do with magic I believe. Prince Crono has been gone trying to find a way to…fix Princess Nadia. I'm sorry but I don't know any other details."

"What about Marle's magic?" Lucca asked.

"The Prince secured the three of us special armor. It's made to be resistant to ice magic. Before leaving he told us if it ever went this far to put it on and immediately arrest Princess Nadia." Eric pointed to where the other two knights held the thrashing Marle. "See, her magic can't harm us, much as how your magic couldn't harm us when we wore her enchanted armor."

With her glasses on Lucca could see that Eric spoke the truth. Bluish ice magic blazed around Marle like an aura, yet both knights remained unharmed. Then in the blink of an instant the aura changed. Lucca felt the magic morph from the familiar tingle of Marle's water element to the darker shadow element. As far as Lucca knew a change like this shouldn't be able to happen.

Razor sharp blades of dark magic burst from Marle's body like spikes. Blood gushed from the two knights as they cried out in pain and surprise. The dark spikes vanished and the two soldiers crashed to the floor, blood soaked and dead.

Eric turned and ran through the cell gate, but a flick of Marle's hand caused the stone floor in front of Lucca's cell to freeze over with a miniscule layer of ice. The knight captain slipped in his haste and crashed to the floor, his head landing hard enough to render him unconscious.

"Did you think you'd been saved Ashtear?" Marle called from down the hall. "That your knights in shining armor had arrived to save you from your cruel fate? Well you're wrong, because everything I promised you, I will ensure happens!"

Before Marle had finished her first sentence Lucca had raced out the door. She took care to not slip on the ice and stood her ground behind the comatose body of Captain Eric. Instantly upon leaving the cell she could feel the warmth of her inner magic light up. The feeling was relief beyond imagining.

Marle stretched her arms out, summoning the power of her magic. Lucca summoned her own, but to her dread found that it had been severely weakened by the time spent in the cell. Still she focused her will on the air a few feet in front of Eric. Using her magic she caused the air molecules to increase speed until a barrier of super heated air wavered in front of them.

A burst of arctic wind rushed from Marle's hands, crashing into Lucca's heat barrier. Lucca gritted her teeth as she felt the air molecules slow down due to the cold assault. Using every ounce of her willpower Lucca kept the barrier up. Despite her best efforts the barrier shrank second by second. One on one Lucca had never challenged Marle in a contest of power before. Even under normal circumstances Lucca was unsure of who would win that encounter, and these were not normal circumstances. Lucca knew she was at a massive disadvantage. Marle was fresh for the fight. She was not. If anything she was weaker than she ever remembered being.

Fear and adrenaline alone kept her feeble defense up against Marle's pressing onslaught. The source of the icy wind stepped closer and closer, as Lucca's barrier shrank from being nearly two feet wide to mere inches. Marle paused for a half step to charge her powers for a single mighty blow.

Lucca watched as the wave of magic rushed down the hall, covering the walls, ceiling, and floor in a sheet of glassy ice as it passed. The barrier broke as soon as the wave of ice made impact. The blast launched Eric's body into the air and into Lucca, knocking her to the now ice covered floor. She struggled against Eric's dead weight, but in her weakened state she had little hope of moving a grown man in full armor.

"Go ahead and fight, Ashtear," Marle taunted as she approached. "Fight. Plead. Cry. Struggle against me. It makes it all the sweeter to watch you finally break."

* * *

_Guardia Forest, 1004 AD_

The midday sun sparkled off of Crono's royal tunic. After leaving Nokk he had changed back into his 'official' clothing. The time for disguises was over; the time for desperate action was upon him. He rode on his own horse, surrounded by mounted knights. In the middle of the procession were several wagons which held supplies. One of the wagons held something very special.

A lone rider raced on horseback to greet them. The hair on the back of Crono's neck stood up. Something seemed wrong in the way the man rode. It was too frantic, too panicked. The rider came to a halt in front of the procession. Crono recognized the man. He was one of Captain Eric Storkson's men. Crono's blood froze.

"Your Highness, Captain Storkson told me to ride until I found you. I just left the castle. He said to tell you that the 'last resort' is in play."

Instantly Crono spun to his second in command. "Take the mirror into the main lobby, keep it surrounded with guards. Do not let anything, _anything_, happen to it." He pointed next to the knight riding to his left. "Get the other mirror and take it to mine and the Princess's room. Make sure it sees the other mirror on the way up. Guard it in the room and wait for me."

As the men rushed to their jobs Crono rode out to the messenger. "Where are they right now?"

"The Captain was heading to the dungeons, Your Highness. To the prisoner Lucca Ashtear's cell."

Crono didn't let the shock of the statement slow his thinking. "Why is Lucca in prison?"

"Princess Nadia had her arrested for poisoning the King, Your Highness."

Crono blanched. It was worse than he had thought. He had been positive that he had more time, and if anything were to happen to Lucca because of his own miscalculation…

He shook his head. He could regret any mistakes made once this was all over, but for now he had no time. Crono kicked his horse in the sides, sending it into a full run. The minute it took for him to reach the castle seemed to take hours.

Once inside soldiers and servants alike scattered before him, the sight of their Prince sprinting at full speed through the castle catching them off guard. Crono mentally grabbed the part of his mind that controlled his magic, and released a steady flow into his muscles. He could feel them fill with extra power and his body speed up. He took the stairs at a full sprint without breaking a stride.

Once he reached the long walkway that led to the prison area he could feel both of their powers. Marle's familiar water element was glowing at full force, and the pollution it contained had grown many times over since he had left. Lucca's fire element on the other hand was frighteningly weak. Then to his horror it disappeared completely.

Crono pushed his body past its limits, forcing his muscles to accept magical boosts far greater than what was safe. The journey happened in a blur. Door after door vanished behind him as surprised guards and prisoners alike gasped as he rushed by. Marle's magic guided him like a beacon, until he reached the final door. Since the prison wasn't operating at full capacity not all of the cell blocks were in use. This was one of the empty ones, or at least it should have been.

Before reaching the door Crono already had his hands on the hilt of his katana. He drew his blade and sent it in an upward arc with one lightning fast movement. The magic glow his body gave off caused the blade to sparkle with brilliant rainbow light. The steel door was no match for Crono's magic or his sword. With a deafening metallic screech it ripped in two and clanged down the hall way.

In the front of the hall two knights lay dead, at the other end Marle stood over Lucca and Captain Storkson. Marle spun around when he entered, a look of stunned shock on her face. "C-Crono, they've rebelled against me! Against us! Lucca was one of them. She has betrayed us both!"

Crono stood still as a statue for a moment as he stared at her. "Marle if you're still in there, please forgive me." He raised a single arm and pointed at her. Before she could say or do anything a bolt of white hot lightning erupted across the long hallway.


	4. Verse IV: Debello

**Verse IV: Debello**

_Guardia Castle, 1004 A__.__D__._

Marle's body glowed momentarily as the lightning struck her in the chest. Crono watched the body of his wife drop limply to the ice covered floor. As he sheathed his katana he realized that he was the only person left standing in the hallway. The two knights before him had been killed by her. He prayed that she hadn't also killed Lucca and Storkson. He prayed that he hadn't killed her.

At the end of the hall he found that Marle was indeed still alive, and silently hoped that she would be allowed to live past this day. Lucca too was alive, but the sight of his best friend since childhood caused him to wince. She had the too-skinny starved look of a person who hadn't properly eaten in some time. Her face was badly bruised; both of her eyes black and swollen, blood from her nose had painted her red all the way down her body, which was stripped to only her underclothes.

She smiled up at him. "You need to work on your heroic timing, Crono. Half an hour earlier would have been perfect."

He smiled in relief. She was hurt, badly, but not too seriously, in the very least she would definitely live. Still smiling he lifted the body of the knight captain off of her and laid him to the side, taking the chance to briefly check for a pulse. Thankfully he found a strong one. Storkson was merely knocked unconscious.

He pulled his friend into an embrace. "Lucca, thank goodness you're alive. This is all my fault. I should have warned you. I swear I didn't think it would progress this fast."

"Crono," Lucca said returning the embrace. "I'm getting blood all over your fine white clothes."

He grunted. "Right now that's the least of my worries. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, about as good as I look, I'd say."

"That's not good then. You look a mess," he joked.

"Uh, huh. About that, Crono, what on earth is going on? Through the beating and threats by one of my best friends, the sudden change from cruel captors to benevolent saviors of your knights and everything else, I really haven't had time to figure things out. That and I'm really cold. I don't suppose that you could get my shorts from that cell, and that cape Eric had given me, it's on the bed."

Crono blinked, for the first time realizing that Lucca must have been freezing. He gently let her go and headed into the cell, feeling its frozen touch penetrate him to the core. As he gathered her clothes and the cape he spoke, "I've been aware of the change for a long time. Almost since the day of our marriage."

"What is the change? And why didn't you tell anyone?" Lucca asked taking the clothing from him.

He stared down at Marle's unconscious body and sighed. "I didn't tell you because I thought I had at least another month, before…before things got this bad. I thought that if everyone knew what I knew they'd panic, and it would alert her, and speed things up."

Lucca pulled on her shorts and draped the heavy cape around her shoulders. "What would speed up? Has she actually gone mad like Eric said? And how could you possibly know how long it would be before she got this bad?"

"Not mad. Not exactly, that's just an oversimplified explanation for Captain Storkson. At first I thought she was just going mad, but before long I noticed something else. Her magic would change. Briefly. Just a flicker at a time. I recognized the new magic as being shadow element. I tried to graph the data I observed, using the math you'd taught me. It worked accurately until this happened. I must have miscalculated somewhere."

"How can someone's magic change? I didn't think it was possible."

"It's not," Crono confirmed. "When I was certain the problem was magic related I searched out our best reference. Magus."

"You found Magus?"

"No, not in person. What I found were some of his books. Apparently not all Mystics have been totally human friendly since we changed the past. Some have horded and stored magic relics that once belonged to Magus. I pulled some favors for a connection in the Medina government, got them a rather favorable trade arrangement. In return they made sure those artifacts and books ended up in my hands."

"And the answers were there? In Magus's books?"

"Yes, but not in plain sight. I had to search through until I found references, sometimes obscure, and follow up on those. Magus's knowledge on magic is far beyond my own. Things that were obvious to him he wouldn't write down, making my search rather difficult."

"But in the end you found something out, right?"

"Yeah, I found out that the only thing that could possibly cause someone to exhibit a true element change was 'True Soul Possession.' See, Marle wasn't just using shadow magic. You or I could do that if we trained hard enough, just as how Magus could use spells of other elements.

"Marle's aura was actually changing, in brief flickers, from water to shadow. As far as I can tell the only thing Magus knew of that could cause such a change was a full on possession. What he referred to as 'True Soul Possession.'"

"So Marle's not crazy. She's just possessed. That's really…not good is it?"

Crono shook his head wearily. "No, not good at all."

"Can we unpossess her? I don't know; exercise whatever it is out of her?"

He smiled humorlessly. "We could if it was 'Lesser Soul Possession.' That's to say she was possessed by something less than human, such as a ghost or evil spirit. Those things no longer contain completed souls. If that was the case Marle's element wouldn't change. Because it _did_ change, that means a living breathing person, someone of great magical talent, physically transferred their soul into Marle's body, and it's taking over."

"So is there anything we can do for her? Eric said you had some kind of plan?"

Crono nodded his sudden smile full of hope. "Yes, it's a long shot, but I've just collected the final item needed to take that shot." He knelt next to Marle's body and placed his hands over her. A harsh white glow surrounded her body. Within seconds it absorbed into her skin. Besides moaning briefly she gave no other reaction.

Lucca looked over curiously. "Was that the cure?"

"No. That was just a trick I learned from one of Magus's books. I used my own magic to temporarily block hers. It won't help us in the long term, but short term it will keep her from waking up and killing us."

"Oh," Lucca said, "that's always a plus, but you do have a long term plan? Right Crono? You mentioned some kind of magical items?"

"That's right. I've finally found a second Mirror of Whispers." Crono knelt next to Captain Storkson and placed his hands over his chest. Thin strings of lightning flickered across his body, and then with a flash of light he jerked wildly, his eyes flying open and air sucking into his lungs.

"Y-Your Highness," He sputtered suddenly wide awake. "What's going on? The Princess?"

"She's alive. Now listen to me. I need you to take her to my room, I've blocked her magic for now, but I still need you to tie her hands and feet. There's going to be a mirror brought up by some other soldiers. Do NOT let anything happen to that mirror. I'll follow with Lucca, you carry the Princess."

He nodded, getting to his feet. "Yes Your Highness." Without hesitating to question the orders he lifted Marle into his arms and started off.

"And what is a Mirror of Whispers? Why do you need two of them?" Lucca asked as Eric disappeared out of sight.

"It's…a magic mirror," Crono started. "I don't actually need two, but the first one ended up being quite stubborn."

Lucca blinked in confusion. "Stubborn?"

"It'll be easier to just show you." Crono helped Lucca to her feet. "Can you walk?"

"I think so. At least if you help me I should be able to make it."

"Good. Let's go finish this."

* * *

_Prince Crono and Princess Nadia's Room, Guardia Castle, 1004 AD_

The soldiers in the room looked worried. They had the Princess they were sworn to protect tied up and laying unconscious on her bed, while they stood guard over a tall mirror. The men had little experience dealing with magic, and each one felt more helpless than they'd ever admit too. An audible sigh of relief sounded as Crono entered the room, helping his limping friend.

"That's the Mirror of Whispers?" Lucca asked, looking at the seemingly plain mirror, "How will this help."

Crono led them directly in front of the mirror. "Just look into it."

Lucca groaned as she saw her own reflection. "You're right. I do look a mess, but I still don't under-" Her words ended in a gasp of amazement. On the wall behind them hung a large portrait of Crono and Marle on their wedding day. The reflection of Marle in the painting smiled at them from within the mirror.

"I see you're true to your word, good Prince." The mirror spoke with a feminine voice, but it was not Marle's voice, it was the apparently unique voice of the living mirror. "You've finally found me a companion. I'm forever in your debt."

"Not at all," Crono replied. "As long as you hold up your end of the bargain I'd say we're even."

The image of Marle frowned. "You do realize that this might not end the way you'd like."

"I know, and if the attempt fails I promise that I'll not blame you or bare you any ill will."

Lucca realized that she wasn't the only one in the room who was shocked by the speaking mirror. Several of the soldiers kept switching their gazes between the real portrait and the speaking reflection of the portrait. "Um, Crono, explanation please."

"This is the first Mirror of Whispers that I managed to find. It was owned by the leader of the Acacia Dragoons in the El Nido Archipelago, General Viper."

"So that's what all of those seemingly random political trips were all about. You were searching for the things that could help Marle."

"That's right," Crono confirmed, "and four months ago I thought my quest was finally finished…"

"But I had some terms of my own," The mirror finished for him. "I apologize, but in the experience of my centuries of life not all humans can be trusted. I've long ago learned that once a man has been given what they seek of me, they don't always return the favor, and that is why I insisted you keep your end first."

"The second mirror," Lucca stated, "You wanted a companion, and wouldn't help Crono until he found you one."

"That's right. And I'm not ashamed of my choice. I did as I felt I must do, and I see that the good Prince has found me the companionship I've sought for so many years."

"It makes sense, but what I still don't understand…err…Mirror, is how can you help Marle?"

"A Mirror of Whispers can transport people into the Realm of the Looking Glass," Crono explained, "but it can only take one person at a time, so if a body containing multiple souls is to go through…"

"They would be split apart," Lucca said, clearly impressed by Crono's plan. "Just like the way a prism refracts light."

"Yes, but because only one body came through, I can only let one body leave," the mirror said, "The two souls will be separated totally, but they'll likely have to fight each other to the death afterwards, because only one can return, and from what I gather they won't be on friendly terms."

"So that's the plan then, Crono." Lucca looked over at Marle. "And there's nothing we can do to help her? What about the other mirror?"

Crono shook his head. "The other mirror is even more stubborn than this one. I talked with him on the way here. It seems he's appalled at the thought of letting human's travel through him, and doesn't understand why any other mirror would.

"All we can do is send Marle through, and hope she's the one who returns to us. If the other one comes out…then all we can do is kill it before it can cause any more harm."

"And what about you, Mirror?" Lucca asked. "Can you help Marle at all?"

"I'm afraid not, child," the mirror replied sadly. "All I can do is help separate them. Other than that I cannot interfere."

"Not that any interference from any of you would change anything."

Crono spun at the sound of Marle's voice. She managed herself into a sitting position and glared at her captors. "A bold plan my darling Prince, but it won't work. I'll flay the skin from your precious wife, inside of that mirror, and then I'll return to turn _your_ bones to ash."

"I'm glad you think killing Marle's going to be that easy. Your underestimation just increases the chances of her kicking your ass across the mirror world." Crono lifted Marle's body to a standing position and brought her in front of the mirror. "Ready?"

"Ready," the mirror replied. Crono pointed to the knife on Captain Storkson's belt. He quickly handed it over. Taking a deep breath, Crono pushed Marle's head into the mirror's surface. The glass rippled like water as her body vanished into it. Crono cut the ropes binding her hands and feet. With a final push Marle vanished into the glassy surface.

Crono dropped the knife and stepped away from the mirror. "If anyone or anything other than the Princess comes out of that mirror, kill it," he ordered, drawing his katana. The knights nodded and drew their swords as well. Lucca sat on the bed and waited. It seemed as though that was all she could do.

* * *

_The Realm of the Looking Glass_

One time as a little girl Marle had leaped into a creek to go swimming. It had been early spring at the time and even though the air had felt warm and the water seemed inviting, it was colder than anything she had experienced. Her father and mother had warned her that the creek was being fed by the snow melt and would feel like ice. Always wanting to do things her own way she had jumped in anyway.

The shock of regaining control of her mind felt something like that now. It was hard to breathe, or even think, as the fog that had surrounded her thoughts evaporated with startling quickness.

"Welcome to the Realm of the Looking Glass. I believe you will both be equally disoriented for a spell. I brought you both here, but only one may leave. Marle, I hope you are the one, because I'm afraid the good Prince will be very upset if you don't return to him."

Marle didn't know where the voice had come from, but she understood the message very clearly. Stay alive, or never see Crono again. In front of her another woman sat looking equally dazed. Curly auburn hair fell to her elegant shoulders, her dark eyes locking in on Marle with sudden awareness.

"You," Marle said. "I remember you now."

"That's good," Orbiana replied, coming to her feet. "Then you know that you don't really have a chance. That fool husband of yours has sentenced you to death, and named me the executioner."

"No," Marle said defiantly, coming to her own feet. "Last time we met you had me at a disadvantage. The whole time traveling thing was new to me, and I was without magic of my own. This time I think you'll find us equals."

Orbiana's lip curled into a snarl. "Equals. You are a fool aren't you. Your fate is to be a slave and nothing more." Her hand suddenly went dark, like a black glove had been put on. From the tips of her fingers the blackness stretched out like a whip and struck at Marle.

Instinct born from combat let Marle react fast enough to save her life. The shadow whip crashed against a solid barrier of orange ice. For the first time she recognized her odd surroundings. The layout of the room was the same as that of her bedroom in the castle, but the colors were all rearranged. The effect was dizzying.

Orbiana's shadow whip crashed into the ice barrier again, violently shattering it. Marle lunged out the door and ran down the hall. Her chances at close quarters combat seemed slim. As she reached the stairs the shadow whip finally found its mark. Though it was only a glancing blow Marle was thrown forward.

A smooth layer of ice, orange like the barrier, appeared on the staircase. Using the momentum from her fall Marle flew down the stairs on her stomach. She leaped up and entered a dead sprint as soon the stairs ended. Spinning around she raised another ice barrier. Orbiana had just reached the bottom of the stairs, and was still out of range to attack with the shadow whip.

Marle placed her hands against the barrier. Large spikes of ice burst from its surface, transforming it from a defensive shield to an offensive weapon. Giving it a physical push, she used her magic to propel the spiked wall forward.

Out of Orbiana's hand a second whip joined the first. With a swing of her arm both whips caught the ice barrier and slammed it into the wall to end its momentum. They wrapped around the remainder of the orange ice weapon and sent it hurdling back.

Marle leaped out of the way, only to get caught in the chest with a bolt of dark energy. As she fell back Orbiana sent a second projectile flying through the air. Marle's makeshift ice barrier shattered as soon as it went up. The impact of landing on the ground knocked the breath out of her lungs.

Orbiana laughed from across the castle's large lobby. "My equal indeed! Just because you've managed to learn some magic doesn't make you anything more than you ever were."

Marle stood and gathered the air's moisture, forming it into a single long projectile. She sent the ice missile flying at her enemy far faster than the larger ice barrier could travel. Orbiana's shadow whip easily caught the orange ice missile from the air, snapping it in two.

"My darling Princess, I promised your Prince that I'd flay you alive, and I always keep my promises."

* * *

_Prince Crono and Princess Nadia's Room, Guardia Castle, 1004 A__.__D__._

The color drained more and more from Crono's face as the time went on. Lucca reasoned it could be taking so long because Marle was putting up a good fight. Then again the thing that possessed Marle might just be taking its time torturing her. She forced her mind from the thought, but sitting around doing nothing made Lucca feel sick.

She tore her eyes from the mirror and looked out the window. The sun shone warmly down on the castle grounds. After her time in the frozen prison cell, she had almost forgotten what it was like to be warm. The warm comforting sunlight seemed out of place considering the dark mood in the room.

Lucca spun around to Crono, the inspiration of her idea hitting her like the warm rays of the outside sun. "Crono, is the Realm of the Looking Glass the opposite of everything we know? Like a mirror image?"

Crono shrugged, not taking his eyes from the mirror. "I don't know, not exactly. I think for many things the answer would be 'yes.' But not for everything. I think it's a lot more complicated than that."

"The other mirror, though. It won't send us there to help, but would talk to us right? Answer questions?"

"Yes," Crono replied. "Pretty sure it would."

"Crono, I have an idea. Do you think the other mirror will let us send a message across?"

He shook his head, sweat beading down his pale brow. "I, I really don't know."

Lucca leapt to her feet, unfortunately, her legs still hadn't regained the strength needed to support her weight and she collapsed unceremoniously onto the floor.

Crono turned a worried look to his friend. "Lucca, what are you doing?"

"I need to get to the other mirror. Now."

Crono turned his gaze back to the mirror. "Captain Storkson, take Lucca to the other mirror, and hurry. If her plan can help I want to give it the chance to."

Without replying the knight captain sprung into action. Recovering his knife from the floor he cut the leather fastens on his armor, dropping the heavy plate mail to the ground. The next thing she knew he was sweeping her off the ground and sprinting out of the room.

"It would have taken too long to take the armor off properly," he explained to her look of puzzlement.

Lucca braced herself as he recklessly bounded down the stairs, his steel boots crashing every jump of the way. The ride left Lucca's bruises sorer than when they started, but his speed was impressive to say the least. Within moments the knight was helping her stand in front of the second Mirror of Whispers.

In the glass's reflection Lucca watched one of the castle's ceremonial armored statues spring to life. The way its face plate lifted up and down would have normally seemed comical, but the situation was far too serious for any laughs.

The mirror spoke in a haughty male voice, "I already told that Prince. I will not let any filthy humans travel through me, and compared to the Prince you look about ten times filthier."

Considering her appearance Lucca let the insult slide. "If it's sunny in this world, is it raining in your world?"

"My world?" The mirror asked snidely. "Do you mean the Realm of the Looking glass? Because I'm of both worlds and not confined to either single one like some lesser beings."

"Whatever, yes, the Realm of the Looking Glass. Right now it's sunny here. Is it raining there?" Lucca said impatiently.

"You humans, always trying to over simplify things. It just goes to show how inferior your intellect is."

"Just answer me!" Lucca hissed angrily, in no mood to be insulted by a piece of glass while her friend's life was on the line.

"Well, aren't you the vulgar one. Fine, yes it probably is raining on the other side, if it's not over here. I can't say for sure, but there is a very good chance."

"Good! Good!" Lucca shouted. Her plan at least had a chance. "Can you send a message to the other side? I don't need to go through I just need to send my voice over."

"Oh, no. I couldn't have that. Your filthy voice would be just as bad as your filthy body. I won't do it."

"Then take the damn message yourself! You can at least talk to them, right?"

"I could, yes. But why would I do a favor for a vulgar beast such as you?"

"Because if you don't I swear I'll shatter you into so many pieces that it would be impossible to ever collect them all."

"Fine, I'll send your filthy message. What do you want to say?"

Lucca sighed with relief. There was a chance yet for Marle to survive this. "Tell my friend Marle that Lucca says to go outside. Take the fight outdoors."

* * *

_The Realm of the Looking Glass _

Marle was being backed into a corner. She could feel her magic beginning to wane. Each ice missile launched did little to slow Orbiana's advance. A few more feet and Orbiana would be within striking range with her whips. The projectile dark bolts Marle could block with her ice barriers, but those shadow whips would rip the barriers and herself in half in they struck a direct blow.

"_To the filthy human named Marle. Your vulgar friend Lucca wants you to 'take the fight outside.'" _

Both Marle and Orbiana stopped in surprise. Marle recovered her wits first. She didn't know whose voice that was, but if Lucca really did think going outside would help, she would get outside.

Marle knocked her stunned adversary back using a simple focused blast of icy wind. The attack would do no real damage, but it gave Marle the gap she needed to run past her and get a clear lane of escape to the door.

"You really think going outside will help you? Fine, flee me, but I will hunt you down and kill you all the same. Outside, Inside, it matters not."

Marle paid little attention as she flung the doors open and rushed into the rainbow colored air. It took a second for her to realize that the air wasn't rainbow colored at all. The rain was. Drops of rain cascaded down in every color Marle had ever seen. The initial sight of it took her breath away despite her lethal situation.

Orbiana exited the door and followed Marle down to the castle grounds. Her single minded goal kept her oblivious to the rain's beauty. "Now we're outside Princess. Will you fight and die? Or continue to run, and then die. The choice is yours."

The rain was the most stunningly beautiful thing Marle had ever witnessed. Not only because of the exotic colors, but because rain was water. She looked up at the approaching Orbiana and smiled as though noticing her for the first time. Marle laughed at the foolish woman who approached her. "You did it again, Orbiana!"

"Did what again?"

"You underestimated the mind of an Ashtear again. Even now you don't realize that my friend Lucca Ashtear just gave me all the weapons I need to kill you."

Orbiana paused mid stride. "Weapons? What weapons?"

"Have you not paid attention at all during our fight? I make ice! I make it by using magic to gather, multiply, and freeze the water moisture in the air, because of this I'm near useless in some situations. Like say, a desert with incredibly dry air. Here on the other hand. In the middle of a rainstorm I have an unlimited amount of water to use. It takes next to no magic for me to create ice out here. All I have to do is freeze it, nothing more."

"You're bluffing," Orbiana stated flatly. "The rain won't increase your capabilities that much. Besides, you're exhausted."

Marle smiled. "Catch." Quicker than before duel ice missiles formed in front of her. She effortlessly sent them at Orbiana. The double headed shadow whip caught the missiles just as easily as before.

"So now you can throw two useless chunks of ice at once. Oh yes Princess, very impressive. You're right, I've really been beaten this tim-."

Orbiana's sarcastic remark changed instantly into a shriek of pain as her left hand disappeared in a spray of blood, torn clean off by a jagged chunk of ice that fell from above. The shadow whips vanished with her hand.

"You, you bitch! I'll kill you!" Orbiana pointed her other hand at Marle. Several bolts as black as midnight shot forth. Each one hit a shield of ice long before they met their mark.

"Don't you get it yet?" Marle asked. "I can form protective shields instantaneously in the rain. I don't need to worry about gathering and multiplying the water. It's already all around me."

Before Orbiana could send another bolt her right arm was struck near the elbow by another falling blade of ice. With a scream she stumbled backwards.

"It's dangerous to bleed like that," Marle called to her. "Let me help."

On command the rain turned to ice covering her bleeding severed limbs, incasing them in bright orange casts. Orbiana's backwards retreat was halted when more ice seized her legs. Enraged beyond words the former Empress of the Modilla screamed in fury at the young blond woman who stood less than thirty yards away.

"I could leave you here, you know," Marle said. "Just like Demetrius left you in the Darkness Beyond Time, I could leave you here in the Realm of the Looking Glass, trapped again for what could be and eternity, but I've learned from his mistake.

"You might eventually find a way to escape from this prison, and if you ever did that and harmed more people it would be on me. I won't have their innocent blood on my hands, but yours I can handle."

Marle's final frozen projectile screeched through the air and imbedded itself in the forehead of Orbiana Modilla, silencing her furious screams. She covered the rest of the body in a shell of ice to shield herself from the morbid spectacle. It was over; she had somehow defeated the foe who had resided within her own mind for all those years.

Taking a last look at the awesome multicolored rain Marle went inside the mirror castle and made her way back to the room in which she had first appeared.

"So you survived after all. I'm so happy for you," the voice called to Marle.

"Thank you, but how do I get home?"

"Since you are ready now, let's go."

Marle felt something push her from behind, and then the world swirled out of vision. The sensation of returning was pleasant rather than disorienting like her entrance trip. She stumbled out of what felt like a doorway, but what she suspected to be a mirror, and found herself with half a dozen swords pointed at her.

Crono dropped his blade to the ground when he saw the familiar form of Marle step out of the mirror. Before she could speak she was in his arms. The knights surrounding them raised their swords in the air and gave a loud cheer.

Lucca leaned against Eric and smiled at her two friends. "You look like you had a nice little walk in the rain, Marle. I guess my advice helped after all."

* * *

_Lucca's Orphanage, 1004 A__.__D__._

"That's amazing!" Lucca scribbled in her notebook and turned back to Marle. "So this Demetrius, my ancestor, was actually able to create and program usable Chrono Triggers?"

Marle nodded as she took another bite of sandwich. "From the story Orbiana told me it seems that way."

"Amazing," Lucca repeated. "Just simply amazing."

Crono entered the room carrying Kid piggyback on his shoulders. "I think it makes sense. Gasper was only human and he made a Chrono Trigger, and if anyone else would be smart enough to make one it would be an Ashtear, plus it explains where you got your brains from."

Lucca smiled at the compliment but returned to writing in her notebook. "This is an amazing breakthrough, all of it, it explains so many things. The Darkness Beyond Time! Its very existence helps the math work out better!"

Marle blushed. "I'm glad that you got something positive out of the experience. It seems that most of what I gave you were bad memories and bruises."

With her free hand Lucca waved the comment off. "Wasn't even you. It was that Orbiana woman, besides you killed her, making sure her harm ended there. How's your father by the way?"

"Recovering, like I expected," Crono answered for Marle. "Whenever Orbiana would take over she'd poison him little by little using magic. That's why none of your tests could figure out what was wrong with him. I couldn't use my own magic to outright cure him, because then she'd have found out that I knew about her. So all I could do was keep him just healthy enough not to die."

Lucca sat her pen down. "I guess this wasn't quite the grand adventure that we're used to. I mean, it's not like we stopped another world eating alien, but all in all I'd say we made the world a lot better without the threat of Empress Orbiana lingering in the shadows."

"Yes, and now I bet all of our lives will be a whole lot easier," Marle said.

Lucca frowned as she glanced down at her notebook again. "I don't know about easier. All these questions I've just answered have only led to more. Something tells me my life is going to stay difficult for a long time to come."

FINIS


End file.
